November 29, 2006

Catchphrases, caught and uncaught.

100 Greatest TV Quotes & Catchphrases -- via Throwing Things -- currently arranged in alphabetical order.... Well, so, have your fun: Put them in the right order. I'll just pick a few I like:
Here's Johnny! (Ed McMahon, The Tonight Show)
How sweet it is! (Jackie Gleason, The Jackie Gleason Show)
I want my MTV! (MTV)
I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV. (Vicks Formula 44)
Jane, you ignorant slut. (Jane Curtin and Dan Aykroyd, Saturday Night
Live)
The tribe has spoken. (Jeff Probst, Survivor)
Yabba dabba do! (Fred Flintstone, The Flintstones)
You rang? (Lurch, The Addams Family)
Hey, wait a minute! Just a darn minute. Where is "Dobie Gillis"? "You rang" gets a Lurch credit?

14 comments:

Ron said...

Where is "Dobie Gillis"?
um...he and Maynard G. Krebs are trying to get us out of Iraq?

"You rang" gets a Lurch credit?
Well, yeah, he certainly won't be remembered for his '04 campaign!

MadisonMan said...

Prof., maybe you should clarify for us younger readers that Dobie Gillis would show up and say "You rang?" after someone said his name. I had to do a google search to find that out.

I happened to ask the college students in my class a couple weeks ago if they knew who Sgt. Schultz was. One person out of ~24 did. So I wonder if I know nothing will resonate with them.

Ann Althouse said...

MM: It was Maynard (Bob Denver) who would walk in and say "You rang?" -- after someone else had a line full of insults. The insults were never about Maynard, but just something else that was going on, so "You rang?" worked as a nice punchline, a sudden retracking of the story, and the entrance of a great character.

Lurch on the other hand was the butler, and they had actually rung for him. His line was funny because he was funny looking and said it funnier.

Lurch was also later.

They really need to put out "Dobie Gillis" DVDs.

Ann Althouse said...

"Dobie Gillis" had a lot of catchphrases. Dobie would say "Now cut that out" when Zelda crinkled her nose at him and it caused him to reflexively crinkled his. Dobie's Dad -- Herbert T. Gillis -- would often say "I've got to kill that boy. I've just got to." I wish I could remember more!

A funny thing about DG was that the actors who played two of the high school teachers later played the parents on "The Patty Duke Show" -- which by the way deserved a catchphrase mention. I mean: "A hot dog makes her lose control" was a classic.

MadisonMan said...

I think it's interesting that some of the catchphrases were said only once. I mean, why have You've got spunk but not Oh Mr. Graaant. The latter was said a lot.

And why not Hi Bob from Bob Newhart -- come on! It spawned a whole drinking game!

AllenS said...

Dobie Gillis, was the first "hip" show on tv. Maynard G. Krebs, was the first beatnik. Were we innocent back then, or what.

WV: dypuynst

Ann Althouse said...

Here's my post about the "slut" catchphrase linking to the obituary for Shana Alexander.

Jeff with one 'f' said...

Zeb, you're right. For that matter, where is "There you go again!"? I must have heard that quoted with the requisite "Grandpa Ron" voice all through the 80's.

Joe said...

Like items on most self-absorbant lists, most of these things are already forgotten and in fifty years will be completely forgotten.

Anonymous said...

"We've got a really big show!"

Shouldn't that be, "We've got a really big shew!"? And why are some of the phrases partial, like "It takes a licking ..." where's "and keeps on ticking." John Cameron Swayze.

Anonymous said...

"It was Craig Kilborn who started "Here it is, your moment of Zen" when he did, the much funnier, Daily Show before Stewart.
And yes, I stopped watching a few shows into the Jon Stewart era. I didn't think he was funny before he became a DNC commercial."

Thank you! And I thought I was the only one!

DannyNoonan said...

I'm baffled that Seinfeld only made the list twice. Maybe it's because I quote the show daily(usualy by accident, it's just sort of become part of regular conversation). What about:

"Hello, Newman." -Jerry
"Get out!" -Elaine
"It's not a lie, if you believe it." -George
"Maybe the dingo ate your baby." -Elaine
"Gotta love the Drake." -All
"When you control the mail, you control information!" -Newman
"She had man-hands." -Jerry
"It was a festavus for the rest of us." -Frank Castanza
"My name is Art Vandelay. I'm an architect." -George
"Is anybody a marine biologist?"
"So you're still master of your domain?" -George
"Giddy-up" and "Ahhht" -Kramer

I was also baffled that Ari Gold and "You wanna hug it out bitch?" isn't on there.

Revenant said...

And where's "Just the facts ma'am."?

It probably got left off the list for the same reason "Beam me up, Scotty" did -- because it's not actually in the show. What they actually said is "All we want are the facts" or "All we know are the facts". Nobody says it that way, though, so it obviously wasn't a "memorable catchphrase". :)

mikeski said...

Not to mention, "Not that there's anything wrong with it...", which might be the most-used Seinfeld quote.

I can't believe "Do you believe in miracles...yes!!" isn't on there (especially when they included "Denny Crane" - huh?).